Passed My Refinishing Final!

[pgerhardt]

Talk about throwing in the towel! I did not give up, but I did throw in about 40 of them! (That is micro fiber towels in the trash.) Fender number one is color sanded and buffed out. The only problem is that it is so "Purty", I want to mount it on a big board and hang in in the living room! My wife won't let that happen, so I guess it is going back on the car this spring after I repaint the back of my tudor in the early 29 scheme.

This also marks the end of my self taught course on current refinishing practices so hopefully the next fender won't take so long!

 

[John Duden]

makes you proud dont it!!! When i finally finished my fenders and doors i could not be any happier!!! i could probably arm wrestle chuck norris after all that sanding!

 

[31 Roadster Pa.]

Nice job I also did some cooler sanding last fall , my entire Tudor body, fenders were ok. It also turner out great . Cooler sanding is a product on knowing when to stop and staying off the edges it looks like you nailed it . I bought my Tudor with a good bit of orange peel in the paint knowing some day I could sand it out or let it be . I did want to remove the thick pin stipe that was not a good look and did not match the wheels after they were powder coated. After cooler sanding the pin stripe off I did a test spot on the rear quart panel , it looked 95 % better after compound and polishing this turned into doing the rest of the car.

 

[Mikeinnj]

Nice job !
Can you tell us how you refinished that fender. ?
How did you remove the old finish?
What did you find under the old paint?
What did you use for the new paint and how many coats?

 

[pgerhardt]

Nice job !
Can you tell us how you refinished that fender. ?
How did you remove the old finish?
What did you find under the old paint?
What did you use for the new paint and how many coats?

To remove the old finish I used a "3M sandblaster" on my angle grinder (see picture 1) then soda blasted to clean out the rust pits.

Under the paint? One small hole that had been filled with bondo. That was easy to weld up, and one nasty surprise that took al little more work. (see pictures 2-3)

New Paint? Epoxy Primer, Feather Fill Primer Surfacer,Sherwin Williams single stage acrylic enamel Classic Black. (see picture 4)

 

[roadster36]

Great job ! I bet you have a lot of self satisfaction knowing you did it all. Well done.

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

I'm happy for you! Congrats on your accomplishments!!

 

[C26Pinelake]

You are obviously no stranger to the work shop. You are to be commended !
Wayne

 

[pgerhardt]

Self satisfaction, yes. That is the "fuel" needed to carry you through the rest of the car! There is still much to do!

 

[Doug Linden]

Looks Awesome, job well done.

 

[Hoogah]

Looks Awesome, job well done.

x2!! That's what I call motivation!!

 

[Big hammer]

A reflection of your work 4th picture One down 3 to go Could micro fiber towels be washed and reused? Looking good!

 

[Mike V. Florida]

Way to go!!!!

 

[Terry NJ]

Nice Job! You give me inspiration! I just can't spray paint worth a darn, Primer? Yeah, but then you sand most of it off. Finish coats? no, too many runs!
Terry

 

[TonyM]

Great Work!!!

 

[pgerhardt]

Nice Job! You give me inspiration! I just can't spray paint worth a darn, Primer? Yeah, but then you sand most of it off. Finish coats? no, too many runs!
Terry

If you don't like runs just do what I did and mix up and reverse the amount of hardener and reducer! No runs, but orange peal that looks like a gravel road!

My point is that I made ridiculous mistakes, but learned from every one. Keep practicing (maybe on a smaller part - like a radiator splash shield - so sanding and starting over is not so time consuming) and you WILL get better.

These are the steps I took to reduce runs:
1. Add more lighting and a ceiling heater to my "tool room" (which doubles as my paint booth!) so I can see what I was doing and bring the temperature up to 65 degrees.
2. start with a light mist coat
second coat was a full cover coat, but still light
third coat was a little wetter to allow a good flow out
(This takes lots of practice to get a good feel for what is going on.)
3. Follow the data sheet's recommendation for time between coats to the letter. The recommendation for the black enamel was 15 minutes between coats. I used a timer to make sure it was exactly 15 minutes.

 

[grumpyoldsman]

after doing this stuff for over 40 years ive learned you do with a buffer what you cant with a paint gun. your fender looks great

 

[Purdy Swoft]

Nice Job! You give me inspiration! I just can't spray paint worth a darn, Primer? Yeah, but then you sand most of it off. Finish coats? no, too many runs!
Terry

Terry, You may need to try turning in the fluid control knob on the paint gun . The fluid control knob controls how far the trigger pulls and may help control too heavy build up .. Practice makes perfect .